07.09.06
Posted in Career at 12:01 am by Paloma Cruz
I’ve already shared the fact that I keep learning, or at least try to keep learning. Then I came across this post in my del.icio.us account: “Information sharing: Don’t hoard your knowledge” by Blog Business World.
The quote I liked:
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07.07.06
Posted in Career at 10:57 pm by Paloma Cruz
One of the things I’ve always loved is learning new things. I like absorbing information, knowledge, and adding to the things I already know. Every once in a while I’ll have a mental “aha!” moment where I link something I’ve just learned to something I’ve know for a long time.
Being a creative person, I absolutely believe that I will use every bit of information eventually.
Blog Business World recommends investing in yourself by building a personal library:
I do buy books often. Reference books and self-paced learning books I tend to get the at the annual used book sale (held by the local library). However, I mostly borrow the books I want (from the same library).
Right now I have checked out Blink, Blogging for Dummies and What Color Is Your Parachute? Next I’m thinking of re-reading Never Eat Alone.
How do you invest in yourself?
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06.24.06
Posted in Career, News at 1:21 pm by Paloma Cruz
Ask Yahoo answers the question “How can I find out if I’m really underpaid?.” Suggested resources to finding an answer for you:
(Found via LifeHacker.)
Additional Resources:
(Found via LifeHacker)
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06.23.06
Posted in Career, News at 1:11 pm by Paloma Cruz
MSN Money gives 6 steps to being your own boss. “Young entrepreneurs have to work hard to overcome inexperience and gain credibility. These tips increase your odds of success when starting out and starting up.”
- Get some experience
- Build a winning team
- Fight inexperience with advice
- Write a bulletproof business plan
- Raise money
- Follow the money
Found via LifeHacker.
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06.22.06
Posted in Career, General at 4:28 pm by Paloma Cruz
Some productivity tips and tricks I either have or am thinking about adopting. Hope they help you too.
I hate meetings. In my opinion, they’re seldom productive. Open Loops gives tips on what to do to prepare before, during and after a meeting to make it worth your while. (Found via LifeHacker.)
If you haven’t read “Getting Things Done” already, check out the Wikipedia cliff notes version. It’s an easy primer to the concepts in this book.
Need an email to be perfect before you send it out? A LifeHacker reader makes this great recommendation:
If you’re sending an e-mail that absolutely HAS to be perfect before it goes out, leave the address out of the “To” field, and stick it into the top of the message body instead. Then, you have to consciously act to send these messages, which naturally lends itself to “one more readthrough.”
Richard Kuo gives some tips on managing your email. (Part 1 found via LifeHacker, part 2 found via his blog).
- Define specific times to check your e-mail.
- Disable automatic e-mail downloading and alerts
- Set up GTD folders.
- Move all your existing e-mail out of your Inbox and into the Action Required or Reference folders.
- Moving forward, keep the Inbox empty by filing incoming e-mails.
More to follow later.
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Posted in Career, News at 5:31 am by Paloma Cruz
I’m going to start believing my mother’s saying that everything happens for a reason. UTMB in Galveston is going to lay off more than 1,000 employees. I interviewed there a few months ago and was upset when I didn’t even get called backed for a second interview.
Now I’m not so upset. This is why:
UTMB layoffs looming
– reported by KHOU CBS Channel 11
Layoffs are looming at Galveston’s largest employer. 11 News has learned the University of Texas Medical Branch will cut up to 1300 pink slips beginning next month.
Only about 15 percent of the cut will come through attrition, which means about 850 people will be getting pink slips, UTMB President Dr. John Stobo said.
The reduction of almost 10 percent is part of an attempt to stem operating losses of about $20 million a year and help the university build a reserve fund.
The university employs about 13,000 people who reside all over the region. The university had contracted with the Chicago firm Navigant Consulting to analyze what the institution and its workers do and recommend improvements and efficiencies.
[snip]
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06.21.06
Posted in Career, News at 4:31 pm by Paloma Cruz
A friend of mine sent me the links to these two articles because she know I’ve been fairly miserable at my job since all the “reorganization” started:
The part I found helpful:
If you think you are a victim of workplace abuse, what can you do?
- Get out. Things will never change, so the sooner you get a new job, the better.
- Educate yourself. Try to identify the type of abuser you are dealing with and get as much information about that personality type as possible. This will help you deal with the situation until you can leave.
- Keep records of everything. Save e-mails and voice mails. Write down incidents in a date book. Cell phones are handy for recording and photographing documentation.
- Know your rights. Contact your professional association or a lawyer to find out your rights as an employee of your company. Then you must weigh your options on whether you feel the situation is worth fighting legally.
- Develop a social network. Focusing on events outside of work is important to help you regain some balance in your life.
- Consider therapy. Consult a professional to get you through this dark period and help you regain your self-esteem.
I’ve got to give this some serious thought.
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06.10.06
Posted in Career, News at 5:40 am by Paloma Cruz
Here are two articles that take opposing views.
Many Americans don’t give up work on vacations
– reported by the Washington Business Journal
Here’s more evidence some might say proves Americans work too much.
CareerBuilder.com says more than one in four — 27 percent — of the people it asked say they plan to work while on vacation this year. Another 16 percent say they feel guilty about vacations, and 7 percent actually think they’ll get fired if they take one.
For those who actually try to cut themselves off from the office while out of town, it sometimes takes a lie. The survey says 11 percent of workers have blamed a bad cell phone connection or lack of Internet access for failing to keep in touch while out of the office.
[snip]
That sounds like me and most of the people I work with. And most of the people I know.
Most employees plan vacations
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
Most employees are scheduling some much-needed R&R this year, according to one survey.
Three-quarters of employees surveyed are planning vacations this year, with
27 percent heading to the beach. Fifteen percent will travel overseas, while 14 percent will stay home or visit relatives.
[snip]
Planning a vacation, to me, is not the same thing as taking one.
Hmmmm…… Are you going to take a vacation this year?
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06.09.06
Posted in Career, News at 5:33 am by Paloma Cruz
Interns? No Bloggers Need Apply
– reported by the New York Times
[snip]
Most experienced employees know: Thou Shalt Not Blab About the Company’s Internal Business. But the line between what is public and what is private is increasingly fuzzy for young people comfortable with broadcasting nearly every aspect of their lives on the Web, posting pictures of their grandmother at graduation next to one of them eating whipped cream off a woman’s belly. For them, shifting from a like-minded audience of peers to an intergenerational, hierarchical workplace can be jarring.
[snip]
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06.08.06
Posted in Career, News at 5:44 am by Paloma Cruz
In case you missed the memo, blogging could cost you your job. As you fill out your daily rants in your blog, please remember those confidentiality clauses you signed. Please remember the standard business practices your company follows. Please remember to respect the privacy of your coworkers and customers. And please remember that openly criticizing your organization is not the way to get promoted.
Blogging on the job
– reported by The Age
Writing a witty web diary of your working life might appeal, but make sure your boss approves — or keep it anonymous. By Kate Hilpern in London.
[snip]
Bloggers have learned this lesson the hard way. Recently a lawsuit was brought against a former United States Senate aide whose explicit short-lived blog about relations with Washington officials titillated Beltway political hounds a couple of years ago. Jessica Cutler is being sued for invasion of privacy by a former legal counsel to an Ohio Republican senator.
She was sacked in 2004, once her diary had featured on a popular Washington gossip blog. Other workers in the US have lost their jobs because of blogs.
[snip]
Jeff Jarvis, a media consultant and avid blogger, recently reported a further reason for their appeal: “In this age, when every message is manufactured, metered, spun and filtered, that is precisely what makes blogs so refreshing: their humanity.”
Employers tend to be less positive about blogging. Many are concerned about employees revealing confidential information, while others are worried about people saying inappropriate things about their co-workers or bosses.
[snip]
The reality is that a huge number of blogs aren’t read, even by keenest fans. Some are boring, others are just silly. But it only takes one negative reference to an organisation to appear on a search listing, and within hours it could appear higher up than its official website on the results of internet search engines such as Google.
Some companies have the added concern that employees are too busy typing their latest blog entry to get on with their job.
Many organisations are responding by banning staff from blogging, or at least mentioning the employer’s name or any identifying details in their blogs. But Wilmott believes this could be counterproductive.
[snip]
Microsoft takes the opposite stance. It encourages its staff to blog, not least because many of the blogs promote company products. For example, Darren Strange, who’s responsible for the next version of Microsoft Office, uses his blog to keep people up to date on the latest developments.
[snip]
Other organisations are also recognising that blogs aren’t necessarily bad news and can even be turned into an opportunity.
Cadbury-Schweppes encourages its new graduate employees to blog about their experiences of work to act as a recruitment tool.
[snip]
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